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Broadway's 'Wicked' Hits $1 Billion Mark in Record Time

The show exploring the backstories of the witches from 'The Wizard of Oz' is the third production to reach that threshold, and the fastest in history.

Nothing says "Popular" like $1 billion at the box office.

Producers of the long-running Broadway smash from which that song comes, Wicked, on Tuesday confirmed that the show has crossed the $1 billion box-office threshold at New York's Gershwin Theatre.

The backstory of the witches from The Wizard of Oz is the third Broadway production in history to hit that high. It follows The Lion King, which crossed the mark in 2013 after 16 years, and The Phantom of the Opera, which took 27 years to get there in 2015. Wicked has the distinction of being the fastest in history, hitting the $1 billion milestone in just 12-and-a-half years.

Wicked opened in 2003 at the Gershwin, where it continues to play to near-capacity houses, regularly grossing well over $1 million a week. The show is currently the 10th longest-running production in Broadway history.

One of Universal's most lucrative properties across all entertainment platforms, Wicked has raked in close to $4 billion in sales worldwide, including a combined total of more than $2.8 billion from its North American companies alone. The show has been seen by nearly 50 million people around the globe.

In addition to Broadway and national tours, the blockbuster musical has played record-breaking sit-down engagements in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It has been staged in more than 100 cities in 14 countries, and translated into six languages.

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked features a score by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. Joe Mantello directed the production, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone are the producers.

While there has been much speculation over the years as to when Universal will put a movie adaptation into active development, representatives for the Broadway production confirmed there is still no news on that front.